


The Forbidden Fruit | Hiram Lodge

by kl4uss



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Older Man/Younger Woman, affair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-03-08 08:57:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kl4uss/pseuds/kl4uss
Summary: Lauren Lanzetta is the only daughter of the mobster Joseph Lanzetta. She officially got involved with the family business last year when she witnesses her father threatening someone. Lauren juggles her popularity, AP classes, River Vixens, friends, and her family along with all the mishaps that pop up in the notso innocent town of Riverdale. However, what happens when the Lanzetta family get involved with a new associate? What happens when Lauren realizes he's her best friend's father? How about the attraction she feels towards the older man? Lauren knew he was the forbidden fruit but she just couldn't stay away.[SEASON 2]





	1. Info

_Lauren Lanzetta is the only daughter of the mobster Joseph Lanzetta._

_She officially got involved with the family business last year when she witnesses her father threatening_

_someone. Lauren juggles her popularity, AP classes, River Vixens, friends, and her family along with all_

_the mishaps that pop up in the notso innocent town of Riverdale._

_However, what happens when the Lanzetta family get involved with a new associate?_

_What happens when Lauren realizes he's her best friend's father?_

_How about the attraction she feels towards the older man?_

_Lauren knew he was the forbidden fruit but she just couldn't stay away._

* * *

**ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS ;**

**LAUREN LANZETTA - KATHERINE LANGFORD**

**JOSEPH LANZETTA - RHYS COIRO**

**DANIEL SEN - ADAM PU**


	2. The Hospital

It was just about six thirty in the morning in the small town of Riverdale. This would usually be a time that a normal teenager should still be getting some sleep, but not Lauren Lanzetta. She along with her fellow River Vixens were in the middle of a long and difficult practice for the local competition. Cheryl Blossom, the captain, usually would be the one in charge of the early morning practices but Lauren had gladly taken over for her best friend because of the fire at Thornhill. 

"Alright, ladies!" Lauren shouted to her fellow River Vixens as she instructed them for the third time this morning, "let's go from the top! 5, 6, 7, 8!" The group of Riverdale River Vixens immediately got into formation once they heard the loud counting and they all stepped into motion with different twists, turns, and tumbles. 

However, before the River Vixens could reach the end of their routine, they were soon interrupted when Lauren Lanzetta heard her cell phone ringing on the bleachers. Lauren had paused her movement in the middle of a high V to a dagger and was about to go to an axel turn when she recognized the familiar ringtone. 

Lauren pushed away some small pieces of brown hair from her eyes after she came to a stop before she told her fellow River Vixens, "keep on going! Strong arms and fluid movements!" The Lanzetta teenager then jogged over to her cell phone once she saw that everyone was following along perfectly like Cheryl taught them. Lauren, however, instantly furrowed her brows when she saw it was one of her best friends - who should be a practice right now - who was calling her.

The Lanzetta teenager was confused to why her best friend was calling her instead of here at practice, so Lauren swiftly pressed the accept button on her cell phone before she greeted her best friend once she brought the device up to ear, "hey, V." The temporarily captain of the River Vixens didn't even give Veronica the chance to say anything before she curiously wondered and stated with a small chuckle, "where are you and B? You know, we do have practice this morning."

However, the cheerful teenager didn't get a sarcastic response from her best friend that she was used to getting when Veronica and Betty were late for practice. Instead, Lauren heard a loud sob escape from Veronica's mouth along with a series of crying sounds. Lauren immediately began to panic since Veronica is always strong and rarely shows any signs of weaknesses - unless it's something bad, so the brunette girl walked away from the dancing River Vixens before she hurriedly and worriedly asked, "V, what's going on? What's wrong?"

It took a few minutes of only the sound of the Lodge girl crying through her phone before Veronica took a deep breath and whimpered out, "it's Archie's dad." Veronica took a couple more minutes to get her emotions in control - which made Lauren worry for the older man - before the dark haired girl continued, "he was shot last night at Pop's. I just found out a few minutes ago. Betty and I are on our way to the hospital now."

Lauren didn't even need Veronica to ask her to meet them at the hospital before she quickly assured her best friend, "I'm on my way." The Lanzetta teenager cared a lot about Mr. Andrews, like everyone else in Riverdale, so it really wasn't even a choice right now when she was beginning to worry about the older man and her close friends. "Make sure B takes it easy on the roads, okay?" Lauren spoke into her cell phone as she knew how bad the weather is right now if the thunders from outside was any indication before she murmured, "I'll be there soon."

The Lanzetta teenager patiently waited until she heard the still sobbing Lodge girl mumble out a small okay before she swiftly ended the phone call so she could hurry to the hospital. However, Lauren knew that she had deal with the girls behind her first, so Lauren placed her cell phone on top of her clothes inside of her River Vixen's training bag and placed the yellow strap over her shoulder before she walked back over to the River Vixens with a calm and relaxed expression on her face. 

The Lanzetta girl knew that it was pointless to freak out her fellow River Vixens with the news of Archie's father and it wasn't even her business to share that information, so Lauren gave the confused girls her usual bright smile before she told them, "practice is finished for this morning." Lauren then paused for a moment as she thought about everything that has happened with Mr. Andrews and Thornhill before she added, "we won't have any practices until further notice. Cheryl or I will shoot you guys a text when practice is back on."

There was instantly a rattle of whispers as soon as everyone heard the announcement from their temporarily captain before the puzzled blonde River Vixen, Holly Holland, took a step forward and inquired as she nervously tapped her white sneakers against the floor of the gymnasium, "what's going on?" The anxious girl immediately became overcome with horrible thoughts before she hurriedly asked with a shaky voice, "is this about the competition? Did we get kicked out? Was that who was on the phone?"

Lauren couldn't help but to release a small chuckle at the rambling River Vixen in front of her before she shook her head and assured the antsy girls, "no, no. We are all set to preform at the competition in a few months." The Lanzetta teenager knew the group of girls were nervous because Cheryl never cancels practice, so Lauren decided that she would tell a little white lie. "Cheryl just wants to review the routine with me for competition before class starts," Lauren explained before she assured them, "so you guys don't have to worry."

The Lanzetta teenager gave the group of girls a calm and relaxed smile - even though her anxiety was going through the roof of worrying about the Andrews family - before she reassured them one last time since she noticed a few of the River Vixens were still nervous, "you guys are fine, I promise. Cheryl and I just want to have the best routine ready for the competition." Lauren then clapped her hands together before she complimented, "you guys did great this morning." She looked at each girl with a smirk lifted onto her red lips before she continued, "now, go get some breakfast or even sleep for once and I'll let you all know when practice is back on."

Thankfully for the Lanzetta teenager, there was instantly mumbles of agreement between the group of River Vixens along with talks about getting food and sleep before they slowly began to file out of the gymnasium. Lauren kept a smile on her face and waved as her fellow River Vixens told her goodbye before her smile disappeared and a frown lifted onto her lips when she was finally all alone and she let her true emotions show. 

Lauren was honestly a nervous wreck with worrying about Fred Andrews and how he was doing, so the brunette girl didn't waste anymore time after everyone left before she swiftly jogged towards the side door of the gymnasium. The Lanzetta teenager didn't even bother changing out of her yellow and blue uniform like she usually would after practice as she rushed towards her black BMW with the plan to change clothes after she checked on Fred and Archie. 

The Lanzetta teenager hurriedly grabbed the keys from her River Vixen's training bag once she was in front of her car and opened the door before she swiftly tossed the bag into the passenger seat and settled her body behind the wheel. Lauren placed the keys in the ignition and quickly turned on the vehicle before she rushed out of the parking lot and down the rainy highway like a bat out of hell. 

It took the anxious Lanzetta teenager about fifteen minutes of driving through the rain before she finally reached the only hospital on the Northside, Riverdale General, from the local high school. Lauren couldn't help but praise the heavens that there hadn't been a lot of cars on the road yet for the morning rush or it would have taken her a good twenty-seven minutes. 

Lauren took a quick glance around the parking lot once she was in front of the hospital before she pulled into the first opened parking place that she could find. There was no way Lauren was going to look for the perfect spot or that would take forever, so the River Vixen ended up in a spot in the third row before she instantly parked her BMW. The Lanzetta teenager then quickly grabbed her cell phone from her bag in the passenger seat along with her keys before she jogged her way into Riverdale General.

Lauren was quite familiar with the hospital from roughhousing with Archie and Jughead when they were young kids in elementary school and junior high, so the brunette girl headed straight towards the emergency room - where she instantly spotted her group of friends, that included Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and Kevin, sitting in the waiting room. Lauren couldn't help but to release a small sigh of relief from finally seeing her redheaded best friend before she quickly rushed towards the group.

The Lanzetta girl's hurried footsteps immediately alerted the waiting teenagers to Lauren's arrival. However, they thought it was a doctor with an update, so they all stood up from their seats. Lauren took advantage of them all standing up, though, as she quickly pulled the redheaded teenager into a tight hug before she murmured, "Oh, Arch. I'm so sorry." The Lanzetta teenager held her childhood best friend in her arms as she let him cry against her neck before she pulled away after a moment. "What happened?" Lauren softly asked as she wiped the tears from Archie's face with the back of her hand, "is your dad going to be okay?"

The Andrews teenager stared down at the brunette girl in front of him as he tried to gather his thoughts before he began to explain, "I-I-I-" However, Archie couldn't even form a single sentence before there was warm tears cascading down his face and loud sobs were beginning to rack his body from just the thought of what happened last night. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Lauren instantly cooed when she saw Archie begin to fall apart while she rubbed the back of Archie's blood soaked Letterman jacket with her heart breaking for the boy in front of her. The Lanzetta girl knew that Archie must be mentally and physically drained, so she slowly led him back down to the red cushioned seat in the waiting room at Riverdale General before she took a seat right next to him. 

Lauren let the redheaded teenager lean his head against her arm since he was still holding onto her while he silently cried. The Lanzetta girl soothingly ran her fingers through Archie's hair for a minute or two before she moved her green eyes over to her group of friends and quietly asked to not to disturb or upset the sobbing boy, "what happened?"

The prince of the Southside Serpents was the one to answer the Lanzetta girl's question in a low murmur as he explained, "there was a guy with a hood at Pop's." Jughead nodded his beanie-covered head towards the Andrews teenager before he continued, "Archie said he shot at Pop before he turned on Fred and pulled the trigger."

The Lanzetta teenager let out a small, disheartened sigh after she listened to the short version of what happened last night at the diner before she murmured, "Oh, Archie." The brunette girl placed a light kiss onto her childhood best friend's red and messy hair before she continued on rubbing Archie's back as she tried to offer her best friend some type of comfort during this difficult time. 

"My mom said he's in surgery right now," the blonde and usually bubbly Betty Cooper quietly murmured to Lauren while she tightly held onto Veronica's hand. Betty slightly shook her head before she added as she looked over at her female childhood best friend, "that was an hour ago, though, but they said it could take awhile."

Lauren silently nodded her head as she bit down on her ruby red lips while she absorbed the words that the couple of Jughead and Betty had supplied her with before she leaned back into the uncomfortable chair in the hospital with a small sigh. The Lanzetta teenager couldn't help but to feel sadness and nervousness while she continued to rub Archie's back.

Fred Andrews was one of the only good ones in town. He had always been like a second father to Lauren ever since she arrived in Riverdale at three years old and she had befriended Archie. The Andrews man was always so welcoming and friendly to her, despite who her family is and how powerful they are, and it had always meant the world to Lauren. 

The waiting room in Riverdale General was silent for about ten minutes or so as the six teenagers - Archie, Lauren, Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and Kevin - soaked in the comfort of each other during a tragic time in their equally tragic and dangerous town. It was the only thing that the teenagers knew to do during a time like this when they couldn't exactly do anything about it when Fred was currently fighting for his life. 

However, the silence in the waiting room was soon interrupted after another minute or two when the sheriff of Riverdale walked up to them. The first one to notice the sheriff happened to be the policeman's son, Kevin, as he quickly stood up from the uncomfortable red cushioned chair and walked closer towards his father. "Did you find anything yet?" Kevin hurriedly and worriedly asked as he crossed his arms over his dark green sweater. 

The sheriff of Riverdale slowly shook his head at his son before he moved his gaze over to Archie - who was standing along side his friends with hopes of any information on the person that did this to Fred Andrews shining across their faces. However, the sheriff, sadly, didn't have anything to tell them. Instead, Sheriff Keller greeted the heartbroken teenager as he softly asked, "how's your dad doing?"

The kind girl that is Betty Cooper didn't want the redheaded teenager to suffer anymore than he already was when his father was currently fighting for his life, so the blonde girl decided that she would answer for him. "He's still in surgery," Betty informed the sheriff of Riverdale like she had done with her best friend, Lauren, only a few minutes ago. 

Sheriff Keller nodded his head at the Cooper girl to show that he was listening before he focused back onto the Andrews teenager. "Archie, I know this is a hell of a time for you," the older man began as he stared directly into the young boy's dark brown eyes before he continue in a gentle voice to hopefully get Archie to open up, "but, perhaps we could go somewhere and talk about what happened."

The private investigator inside of Jughead Jones wanted to hear what Sheriff Keller had to say about the tragic situation that happened to his best friend's father in the corrupt town of Riverdale, so he quickly asked the older man before Archie had the chance to say anything to the sheriff's suggestion - or more like order - to talk, "is it cool if I tag along?"

The sheriff of Riverdale slowly moved his aged green irises over to the Jones boy with the grey beanie, who always seemed to putting himself in every police investigation in town, before he uttered, "actually, if you don't mind -"

However, before the older man could tell the teenager from the Southside that he wanted to do this privately, the Andrews teenager spoke in an emotionless but exhausted voice, "yeah, that'd be great, Jug," as he could really use the comfort of his friends right now or he was afraid that he would have a full breakdown at any moment. 

"Also, if you don't mind, Sheriff Keller," the Lanzetta teenager began as she spoke to the sheriff when he just continued to stare at her best friend, Jughead, with a hard gaze. "I would like to join as well," Lauren continued once the older man looked towards her with a kind smile on her face before she explained why she wanted to be in the conversation, "I know Daddy would want to help Mr. Andrews as much as he can and you know we have a lot of connections across the state that could help find out what happened."

The sheriff of Riverdale stared hard at the young teenager like he had done with the Jones boy for a minute or two before he finally caved when he muttered, "fine." The older man knew the teenagers of Lauren and Jughead would end up following anyways and he didn't have time to argue with the two - the princess and the prince of the Lanzetta crime family and the Southside Serpents. So, instead of arguing with persistent duo, Sheriff Keller gave them a tight smile before he turned around to find a quiet corner in the busy Riverdale General.  

Lauren watched and waited until the sheriff turned his back on them before she lifted her arm and lightly squeezed down onto the redheaded teenager's shoulder to her left to offer some sort of comfort. "We'll find out who did this to your dad, Arch," the Lanzetta girl promised with determination in her green eyes to solve the crime of the shooting of her best friend's father. 

Archie gave the brunette girl the smallest smile that he could offer before he murmured, "thanks, Lala." The Andrews teenager honestly appreciated all the support and help that he was getting from his group of friends right now. Archie knew he would have already had a breakdown in the middle of Riverdale General if he didn't have them here with him.

The Andrews, the Jones, and the Lanzetta teenagers stood there in silence for a few moments after the sheriff had walked away as they all exchanged looks that only they could understand as they were the closest best friends of their group before they finally followed after the older man - who was stationed at a small table by a pair of soda and snack machines.

The sheriff of Riverdale waited until the one teenager that he actually needed to speak with took a seat at the small rectangular table in front of him before he immediately began his questioning about what the young Andrews remembered about last night as he inquired, "can you give me a description of the man that you saw at Pop's last night?"

Archie bit down on his pink tinted bottom lip and closed his brown eyes while he aimlessly messed with his blood covered fingers underneath the wooden table as he recalled the person that had shot his father. "He was maybe 5'10," the Andrews teenager answered the sheriff's question once he had swiftly snapped his eyes open after he pictured the man from last night, "160 pounds or so."

Sheriff Keller silently nodded his head after he had pulled out a small notebook from the front pocket of his police uniform before he began to write down the small piece of information in his chicken scratch writing. The older man looked back up at the Andrews teenager once he placed his blue pen over his notes and took a brief glance over to Jughead by the snack machine before he asked his next question about something Archie had mentioned last night, "and he was wearing dark pants and a dark jacket?"

The sheriff watched as the Andrews teenager silently nodded his head before the older man pushed forward with his current questioning as he inquired, "was there anything on the jacket?" The police official took another quick glance over to the Jones boy, who could possibly get upset with his question, before he continued, "any symbol or insignia?" 

That line of questioning, unfortunately for the sheriff, immediately caught the attention of Jughead and Lauren by the snack machine as they knew exactly what the sheriff was really asking. The Jones teenager was the first one to speak as he angrily asked once he threw himself down on the chair beside Archie, "you mean like a snake?" Jughead was sick and tired of the Southside always being blamed about every wrong thing that happened in Riverdale and he wasn't going to stand for it. 

The inner peacemaker and future lawyer inside of the Lanzetta teenager wanted to diffuse the tense situation as quickly as she could as she could tell emotions were definitely heating up, so Lauren swiftly left her position by the snack machine and took a seat beside Archie before she began to comfortingly rub his back to keep him calm during a time like this. The Lanzetta girl then turned a glare to the sheriff to silently tell him to be sensitive right now before she uttered, "how about we stick to the facts, boys."

The Lanzetta teenager didn't like what the sheriff was instigating about the fact that a Serpent could have attacked Fred Andrews. She definitely knew Jughead, one of her closest friends, didn't like it either and it was probably offensive to him, after all, the Southside is his family. 

Lauren usually would raise hell along side the beanie-wearing teenager, especially towards someone talking badly about the Serpents, but the Lanzetta girl knew this was an extremely stressful situation for Archie, so she decided that she would be kind and polite to the older man that has caused a lot of problems for her family's business over the years. 

"No, it was just a jacket," the Andrews teenager finally snapped at the sheriff as he also didn't enjoy the line of questioning like his best friends on either side of him. Archie glanced over to Jughead with a softness to his brown eyes before he affirmed to his best friend to show that he wasn't blaming the Southside, "there was no snake."

The sheriff of Riverdale silently nodded his head as he accepted Archie's answer but made a mental note to not rule out any of the Southside Serpents - despite what the three teenagers think. The Keller man then looked back over to Archie after he quickly wrote down a small 'ss ?' into his notebook before he continued his questioning, "and the ski mask that he had on -"

However, before the sheriff could complete his question about the man that shot Fred Andrews, the aforementioned injured man's son snapped, "no, it wasn't a ski mask!" Archie was annoyed that the sheriff kept putting words in his mouth, so he corrected the man, "it's a hood. A black hood." The redheaded teenager tiredly rubbed at his exhausted brown eyes before he continued in a mumble, "it was homemade like he'd cut the eyes out himself and the guy's eyes were green."

Sheriff Keller added the details about the suspect to his notepad, once again, before he placed his pen back on top of the smeared pen ink - which ended up rolling onto a pile of medical and gossip magazines. The policeman caught the pen before it could roll off the rectangular table and focused on the Andrews teenager as he stated, "now, Pop Tate had a fairly good idea of what happened up until your father got shot." The sheriff of Riverdale slowly shook his head before he added, "and then, well... there are some gaps." The Keller man focused back onto Archie with a kindness in his green eyes before he told the shaken teenager, "and I need you to help me fill those."

The sheriff waited until the Andrews teenager gave him a small nod and an indication that he could help before he asked another question as he tried to fit all of the puzzle pieces together from what exactly happened during the shooting of Fred Andrews, "what did he do? Our masked man?" 

Archie stared at the sheriff for a moment or so as he tried to gather his thoughts before he asked to see if he was following the older man's line of questioning, "after he shot my dad?" The redheaded teenager briefly closed his brown eyes after Sheriff Keller nodded his head in agreement before he felt like was right back at the diner as he murmured, "he..."

However, before Archie could even finish a single thought, he felt himself jump out of whatever trance he had been in about the memories of last night before he took a glance over to the curious Jughead and the worried Lauren. The Andrews teenager let out a heavy sigh when he turned back around after a moment before he shook his head and mumbled, "nothing. He shot my dad and ran out of the diner." Archie looked at the sheriff with completely sadness in his brown eyes before he quietly and desperately asked, "who did this, Sheriff?"

The sheriff of Riverdale stared across at the emotional teenager before he slowly shook his head with an equally heavy sigh and murmured, "Archie, it's just..." The older man came to a pause before he could finish his sentence as he tried to come up with a way to comfort the young Andrews boy from worrying about something that is out of his control before the sheriff finally settled on mumbling, "it's too early to speculate."

"But this guy, he was probably out of his head on meth or the jingle jangle," the sheriff of Riverdale continued after a minute of complete silence as he tried to help the young teenager as best as he could while his father was currently fighting for his life. Sheriff Keller lightly shrugged his shoulders before he concluded, "probably some Southside lowlife that was just looking for a cash grab."

"How much did he get? How much cash?" The curious Jughead quickly inquired before the sheriff could say anything more as ideas began to swiftly form in his mind. The Jones teenager wanted to help as much as he could with finding the person that did this to his best friend's father and he figured his connection to the Southside could help - if the sheriff was even right about that.

The sheriff of Riverdale slowly shook his head before he answered the investigating Jones teenager's question with the truth since they were still in the early stages in finding out what happened in the last twenty-four hours at the diner, "we're waiting to hear about that from Pop Tate."

Lauren's interest was instantly piqued at the line of questioning from her beanie-wearing best friend, so she looked at the sheriff before she inquired, "is the diner closed or can I go to Pop myself?" The Lanzetta teenager didn't exactly trust the police to tell the truth or to not hide something and Lauren always liked to go straight to the source anyways, like her father taught her, so the brunette girl came to the conclusion that going straight to Pop would be the best idea. 

"The diner is closed for the day," the sheriff of Riverdale explained to the other investigating teenager before he added, "but Pop Tate said he was going to be cleaning up the place once the boys were done with the crime scene and they got the exact amount of money that was taken last night."

The Lanzetta girl silently nodded her head while she made a mental note to stop by the diner once she had the chance to leave the hospital after she was sure Archie would be okay. Lauren knew going to Pop was the best and mostly only way in finding out the truth since the older man would do whatever he could to help - especially for the kind hearted Fred Andrews. 

The small area by the two vending machines was quiet for a moment or two before the Jones teenager released a heavy sigh and he questioned the sheriff from the thought process he had been going through in his head for what exactly happened last night, "since this is Riverdale, I have to ask, what if robbery wasn't the motive?" 

However, before the sheriff of Riverdale could answer the investigating teenager's question, he was soon interrupted when the confused Archie Andrews looked over to his beanie-wearing best friend with his brows deeply furrowed. "What else could it be?" The redheaded teenager wondered as that was the only thing that actually made sense to him after everything that happened last night.

The sheriff lightly nodded his head once he realized what the Jones teenager was instigating before he looked over to the puzzled redhead with a gentle gaze and explained what the beanie-wearing boy was getting at for the motive of what happened last night, "well, I mean, I suppose it could be someone who has a grudge against your dad."

Lauren's back immediately straightened, even more than it usually was, after she heard the theory from her partner in crime and the sheriff. "It could have been a set up," the Lanzetta teenager commented as she threw a quick glance over to both Archie and Jughead before she continued with her thought process now that Jughead put the idea that the motive wasn't to just take the diner's money, "the guy could have made it look like a robbery when it really could be something totally different." 

The sheriff, once again, nodded his head in agreement as he agreed with the other detective teenager's instigating about what happened last night at the diner. However, the older man definitely didn't want the duo of Jughead and Lauren to put themselves in his investigation again like they always seemed to be doing when there was a crime in town, so Sheriff Keller quickly told the three teenagers to stop any ideas from floating in their minds, "but, I mean, it's just too early to tell right now."

The green eyed man swiftly grabbed his notebook and pen from the rectangular table once he had got the words out of his mouth before he silently stood up from the uncomfortable chair. Sheriff Keller placed his notes into his police uniform before he rounded the table and lightly placed his hand onto the Andrews teenager's blood covered shoulder. "I'll let you know if we find anything," the sheriff of Riverdale promised before he gave the two other teenagers a warning look to stay out of his investigation and took his exit out of the silent room.

The three teenagers immediately released a round of small breaths that they didn't even know they were holding in once the Keller man was out of sight before the emotional Andrews was the first one to dizzily stand up. "I should go back in there encase there's an update," Archie tiredly mumbled as his worries for his father began to skyrocket again before he sluggishly headed back to the waiting room. 

The Lanzetta and the Jones teenagers both glanced at one another in unison with their investigating faces on display as they felt that something didn't seem right to them. So, before Archie could fully walk back into the waiting room, Jughead quickly called out to him as he and Lauren jogged after the redhead, "Archie, hey!"

The Lanzetta girl was the one to take the lead once Archie had turned around to face them as she asked her redheaded best friend in a soft tone of voice, "are you hiding something from Sheriff Keller?" The brunette teenager quickly rose up her hands in the air when she saw her best friend's confused expression as she assured Archie, "I'm the last person in the world to trust the police, so if something happened, you can tell us."

Archie glanced between his two best friends for a moment before he quickly looked around the hospital for anyone that could be listening. The Andrews teenager then took a step closer to Lauren and Jughead once the close was clear before he whispered, "my dad told me that he and Mrs. Lodge fired the Serpents that they had working on their crew."

The Andrews teenager softened his brown eyes when he noticed Jughead's furrowed brows before he stated, "I know your dad vouches for them." Archie then moved his gaze over to Lauren as he continued, "and I know your dad was apart of the deal as well." The redhead bit down on his bottom lip before he anxiously questioned, "but what if one of them was pissed off enough to do something?"

The beanie-wearing teenager's brown irises immediately softened considerably while his shoulders slumped as he could hear the sadness and desperation in his best friend's voice. "Let me see what I can find out," Jughead told the redheaded teenager as he could tell Archie was only seconds away from losing it and he really did want to help find out who did this to his best friend's father.

Archie immediately gave his beanie-wearing best friend the smallest smile that he could offer right now when Jughead mentioned that he would look into what happened to his father with his connection to the Southside. It made the Andrews teenager happy that he could count on his childhood best friend, so he quickly pulled Jughead into a tight hug as she showed his praise, "thanks, bro."

The Jones teenager gave his redheaded best friend a small smile along with a nod while he silently accepted the praise, even though he didn't really want to in a very Jughead Jones fashion, before he turned around and headed down the long hallway of Riverdale General to finally get the answers that the police would never be able to get. 

"I'll go talk to Daddy on my end," the Lanzetta teenager told her redheaded best friend after a moment of comfortable silence as she lightly squeezed the emotional Andrews's lower arm that was covered by his bloody yellow jacket sleeve. "He should be able to find out what the Serpents thought about the contract with your father ending," Lauren commented as she knew her father would most likely find some answers since the Serpents were associates to the Lanzetta crime family.

Archie nodded his head while he released a thankful breath at the fact that the brunette girl in front of him would also be helping him figure out what happened to his father. "Thank you, Lala," the Andrews teenager exhaustively murmured with a small smile to show how much his best friend's help meant to him right now. 

"Of course, Arch," the Lanzetta teenager uttered with a soft smile playing on her red lips before she hugged Archie as tightly as she could as she tried to show just how sorry she was about what happened to his father. Lauren squeezed the redheaded boy's waist once more before she told him, "give me a call if you hear anything new about your dad." The brunette girl then watched as Archie silently nodded his head in agreement before Lauren turned around and headed down the hallway to go speak to her father.

However, though, when the Lanzetta teenager noticed Jughead walking towards a side door, Lauren changed her mind and decided to join to see what the beanie-wearing teenager would find out with his connections in the Southside before she would go see her father as the detective in her wanted to find out everything that she could. "Hey, wait up, Jug!" The brunette girl quickly shouted out when she saw Jughead was about to walk out of Riverdale General.

Thankfully, the Jones teenager had heard the Lanzetta girl's loud voice before he could fully leave the hospital, so he stopped walking and turned around until Lauren was standing by his side. "What's up?" Jughead wondered with his brows furrowed once Lauren had joined him and he stared down at the teenage girl beside him in curiousness for why she stopped him.

"I'm going to go see Daddy and ask if he knows anyone that saw or heard anything about what happened last night at the diner," Lauren told the beanie-wearing teenager since they always tell one another their plan when they get into their detective modes before she inquired with a raised eyebrow, "are you going to go see the Serpents right now?"

Jughead silently nodded his head as he remembered what his plan was before he pushed open the side door of the hospital. The Jones teenager waited until Lauren exited the building and joined him on the, thankfully, rain-free pavement before he pointed to the dark corner across from the hospital and muttered, "that's what I'm doing now."

Lauren followed the Jones teenager's hand before she barely noticed two shadows standing underneath a dark bridge. However, the motorcycles that caught Lauren's attention made her realize that Jughead had called some Serpents to talk. "Do you mind if I join you and listen in?" The Lanzetta teenager inquired before she commented, "Daddy will probably call a meeting later today, but I'd like to see if we can find anything out right now."

The beanie-wearing teenager lightly shrugged his shoulders before he quietly muttered, "yeah, sure." The two teenagers then silently headed over to the dark corner in the parking lot where an old and unused bridge stood, where they both noticed the two Southside Serpents getting off of their motorcycles and meeting them in the middle. 

"I got nervous when you said to meet at the hospital," the long haired Serpent, Tall Boy, muttered once the two teenagers were standing in front of him. The Serpent glanced over to the River Vixen beside his leader's son before he added with a smirk, "I'm even more nervous now that I know you brought the Mob Princess with you."

Lauren couldn't help but roll her green eyes at the teasing Serpent before she told him, "relax, Cinderella." The Lanzetta teenager crossed her arms over her yellow and blue River Vixen uniform when the cold air from the rain nipped at her skin before she told Tall Boy the reason for why they were meeting right now, "we just have a few questions."

The long haired Serpent completely ignored what the Mob Princess said as he continued to tease with a wide smirk, "the detective duo." Tall Boy glanced around the underside of the unused bridge with curiousness in his blue eyes as he wondered, "but, wait, where's Nancy Drew? Aren't you missing your partner for the detective trio?"

Jughead, like the older Serpent, ignored what Tall Boy was saying like he had done to Lauren as he began, "I was wondering about what you said the Serpents had my back." The Jones teenager crossed his arms over his grey t-shirt and his jean jacket before Jughead inquired, "does that courtesy extend to a guy who's like my brother and to a man who's like a second father to me?"

Tall Boy soon came to realize that the Prince of the Southside Serpents and the Princess of the Lanzetta crime family were being serious, so he lost all of his usual humor and teasing. The older Serpent nodded his head for an answer to the beanie-wearing teenager about the Serpents having his back before he asked, "what do you need?"

The Jones teenager released a small breath of air before he began to tell the older Serpent, "Fred Andrews, my buddy's dad, was just shot." Jughead took a step closer to the long haired man as he described what happened last night, "it was during a robbery at Pop's. The guy was in a black hood."

The silent Southside Serpent, Raven, pushed himself off of his motorcycle and took a step behind Tall Boy before he glared at the two teenagers with an annoyed and angry tint to his dark brown eyes. "Serpents don't wear masks," the younger Southside member growled at what the prince and princess duo was instigating. 

"Yeah, I get it," Jughead muttered with a subtle eye roll as he glanced over Tall Boy's shoulder and over at Raven before he continued, "but some of those Serpents were working for Fred Andrews when, for reasons of his own, he decided to let them go suddenly." The Jones teenager lightly shrugged his shoulders before he used his detective skills and took a guess at what happened, "maybe someone took it personally and went rogue." The Prince of the Southside Serpents gave Tall Boy a pointed look as he commented, "you guys know every hidey-hole in town and someone has to have heard at least something about what went down at Pop's last night."

Tall Boy nodded his head as he silently agreed with the teenager that the Southside Serpents did know all the secrets spots throughout Riverdale before he told Jughead, "we'll start knocking heads and I'll let you know what I find." The older Serpent moved his blue irises over to the brunette girl before he asked, "what did daddy dearest say about all this?" Joseph Lanzetta was the one that had ultimately convinced FP and the Serpents to join on to work with Fred, so the long haired biker knew the Lanzetta man had to know something if they didn't.

"I'm heading to speak to him now to see what he's heard on the streets," Lauren told the older Serpent since Tall Boy and Raven didn't know anything about what happened last night. The Lanzetta teenager turned to the side and put her attention solely on her beanie-wearing best friend before she told Jughead, "I'll give you a call as soon as I find something."

Lauren gave her best friend's jean-clad shoulder a small squeeze as a silent goodbye before she quickly left the two Southside Serpents and headed to the pack filled parking lot of Riverdale General. The Lanzetta teenager was basically jogging towards the third row of vehicles from the cold air before she hurriedly entered her black BMW. Lauren then immediately started up her vehicle once in the comfort of the drivers seat before she quickly left the parking lot of Riverdale General. 

The Lanzetta girl partly started her car right up from the cold atmosphere of Riverdale but mostly because she wanted and needed to find something - anything - about who could have done this to the kind hearted Fred Andrews. The redheaded man was one of the most friendly and most caring people that had ever lived with how he never judged anyone just because they were brought up into a crime family or if they were even a Serpent, so Lauren felt like she was on a mission as she sped down the highway to find out the truth and get justice for the man who was like a second father to her.  


	3. Daddy's Office

Lauren glanced down at the rose gold Rolex on her left wrist as she carefully walked up the steep steps of her family's main business in town, Lanzetta Law Firm, in her heeled clear ankle boots and noticed that it was just a little after eleven in the morning. The brunette girl hadn't even realize that she had spent that long at the hospital and at home, where she had changed out of River Vixen uniform and into a burgundy plaid skirt along with a matching burgundy blouse and coat. 

The Lanzetta teenager knew that her father would be in a meeting in an hour and she still needed to talk to him about if he had heard anything about what happened to Fred Andrews, so Lauren quickened her pace into the tall building that was located in the center of downtown Riverdale. 

Lauren was extremely familiar with her family's law business since she spent a good portion of her childhood strolling through the hallways so she knew exactly where she needed to go without even have to look at any of the signs on the walls. It was like muscle memory as Lauren politely waved at the security guard at the double doors before she headed towards the receptionist desk. 

"Hey, Georgia," the Lanzetta teenager greeted the familiar blonde woman, who had been the receptionist for the law firm for the past five years or so, with a friendly smile shining across her red painted lips. Lauren placed her hands against the granite counter before she inquired, "is daddy in his office?"

The blonde woman, Georgia, gave the teenager a bright smile in greeting before she murmured, "let me check." The receptionist turned her attention onto the computer beside her before she did a quick scan through the Lanzetta family's schedule. "It looks like your father is free at the moment," Georgia told the brunette girl before she added, "but he will be in meetings all through the day in about an hour."

Lauren silently nodded her head when she realized that she was right about her father's schedule before she told the blonde woman with her friendly smile shining across her red lips, "thank you for the help, Georgia." The Lanzetta teenager then said a quick goodbye to the blonde woman with the promise of getting lunch one of these days this week before she turned on her heels and strutted to the elevator. 

Lauren patiently tapped her foot against the tiles in the silent elevator with only the soft classical music playing in the background as she rode up until it stopped at the twelve floor, where her father and mother's offices were located. The Lanzetta teenager waved her hand at the security team positioned around the waiting room before she continued on her way until she reached her father's office. 

Lauren lightly raddled her knuckles against the dark cherry wooden door before she slowly pushed it open after she heard her father's muffled voice. The brunette teenager peaked her head into the large office but when she only saw her father, Lauren finally entered after she knew that he wasn't busy. "Hey, daddy," Lauren greeted her father once she strutted into the room before she walked towards her father's desk and placed a kiss to her father's temple like she always does.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Joseph Lanzetta greeted his daughter with a soft smile that is always reserved for his babygirl before he leaned back in his leather chair as he watched Lauren walk to the seat across from his desk. "Why aren't you in school, Lauren?" The older man inquired with a raised eyebrow and a hard voice as he hadn't been happy when he heard that she had skipped class this morning without a reason. Joseph only allowed his daughter to skip school if it had to deal with the family business. 

Lauren released a loud huff as she leaned her head back against the comfortable and cool leather of the chair in her father's office as she thought back to why she wasn't in school right now. The Lanzetta teenager prided herself in being strong and able to keep emotions out of things but Lauren couldn't do that right now when the man, who was like a second father to her, was currently fighting for his life. "It's Fred, daddy," the brunette girl mumbled before she explained why she wasn't in school, "he was shot last night at Pop's."

The Lanzetta man slowly nodded his head once he got his answer and released the anger he had been feeling of the idea of his daughter skipping school. Joseph wasn't really strict with Lauren, but when it came to her education, he always put his foot down. Joseph always had the tendency to raise hell when he would find out that Lauren was skipping school - especially if she was with that biker boyfriend of hers. But now that Joseph knew that Lauren was just looking after the important people in her life, he relaxed before he commented, "ah, yes, I heard about that this morning."

Lauren immediately perked up at that information as it was what she wanted to hear. The Lanzetta teenager pushed herself to the edge of the leather chair and folded her arms over her burgundy skirt before she asked her father with a small twitch of her head, "if you heard, do you have any information about what exactly happened at the diner?"

Joseph couldn't help the small smirk that lifted up onto his face as he understood why his daughter had showed up in his office this morning.  _She is a Lanzetta, after all,_ the older man reminded himself as Lauren would, of course, have that interrogating lawyer spirit like her parents and that duty to protect her friends like he had instilled into her since she was a little girl. "There is a few talks on the streets to what happened or what could have happened," Joseph answered his daughter's interrogating question. Joseph lightly shook his head before he muttered, "but there is no clear cut answer, sweetheart, just different people saying it was a robbery, an enemy, or even just a random hit." 

Lauren bit down on her bottom lip as she silently nodded her head. The brunette teenager was disappointed that there wasn't someone that knew what happened to the Andrews man. However, Lauren knew that didn't mean that she couldn't dig and find the answers that she wanted for the man who's like a father to her, so the Lanzetta teenager pushed away her disappointment before she asked her father, "do you have any of the guys looking into this right now? To see who could have done this to Fred?" 

"No," Joseph stated as he fixed the sleeve of his navy blue Giorgio Armani suit before he continued once he connected his dark eyes back with his daughter's determined ones, "I don't but I can make the call if you really want this to be looked into."

Lauren immediately nodded her head as she uttered, "I do, daddy, thank you." The Lanzetta teenager pushed a portion of her brunette hair behind her ear with a loud sigh before she told her father why she wanted the family to look into the incident at Pop's, "you know much I care about Fred. He deserves more than what the police can do to get him justice."

Joseph gave his daughter an assuring smile before he promised to his heir, "I'll get in touch with a few of the guys to start scoping around for any information, then."

The Lanzetta teenager couldn't help but release a breath of relief at the fact that the Lanzetta mob would help find out who had shot Fred Andrews last night. Lauren was thankful as she wanted to help ease the pain that her best friend, Archie, was going through right now. It was just one less thing that the Andrews family would have to worry about, so Lauren would gladly do everything she can to find the monster that done this to Fred.

The thought of catching the Andrews man's shooter immediately brought Lauren back to the conversation that she had with her two best friends at the hospital. "Hey," Lauren called out to her father before she inquired, "have you spoken to any of the Serpents today?"

The Lanzetta man glanced up from the paperwork that he had been looking at for his meeting before he answered his daughter's question, "Tallboy called this morning but I haven't had the chance to swing by the Southside yet to see what he wanted. But other than that, I haven't." Joseph twitched his head to the side in curiousness for why his daughter was asking about the leather bound men and women before he wondered, "why? Do you think they could have done something to Fred?" The lawyer rolled his dark eyes at the thought of a certain Serpent before he muttered, "why not ask that punk boyfriend of yours?"

_Not this again,_ the brunette teenager thought as she rolled her eyes right back at her father. This was a common conversation that she would have with her father over her choice of a boyfriend. Lauren never understood why her father didn't like her boyfriend since he has a close relationship with the Southside Serpents. However, Lauren didn't have time to question this right now - especially when her father never would give her a straight answer - so she only muttered, "leave Daniel alone."

Lauren wanted to focus solely on the whole Fred Andrews ordeal, so she ignored her father's petty words before she explained why she was asking about the Serpents, "it's just Archie mentioned that Fred and Hermione fired the Serpents who were working for them." The Lanzetta teenager twitched her head to the side before she continued her interrogation, "do you know what happened there? Do you think some of the Serpents were angry enough about getting fired to do something like this?"

Joseph sat there in silence for a minute or two as he thought about the Southside Serpents before he shook his head. "Honestly," the Lanzetta man began with a quiet sigh before he stated, "I don't think they did this. This isn't their style." Joseph had known the Serpents ever since he moved his family to Riverdale when Lauren was only two years old, so he knew the Serpents through and through. The Lanzetta lawyer knew the Serpents are capable of doing something like this, but Joseph just had this feeling in his gut that this wasn't a Serpent hit.

The Lanzetta teenager watched her father's facial expressions for a moment before she nodded her head as she accepted his answer and believed him. Lauren couldn't help but to be relieved that the Serpents didn't have anything to do with what happened to Fred. She had a special relationship with the a few of the Serpents - Fangs, Toni, Sweet Pea, and Daniel - so she was glad that they didn't do anything to the man who was like her second father.

"Thank you for talking with me, daddy. I know you're busy," Lauren praised her father as she slowly stood up from the leather chair and fixed her burgundy skirt. The Lanzetta teenager grabbed her black leather purse from the carpet ground before she stated, "I'll let Arch know that we'll be looking into things." Lauren slipped her purse up on her shoulder before she uttered, mostly to herself, with a small shrug of her shoulders, "I'll probably make a few calls to our contacts to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible."

Lauren gave her father a farewell smile before she turned around to head out of the Lanzetta office. However, though, before the brunette teenager could even take a full step across the room, the Lanzetta man called out, "wait, sweetheart." Joseph waited until his daughter was facing him before he continued, "while I have you here, I wanted to run something by you." 

The Lanzetta teenager couldn't help but to be curious to what her father wanted to talk to her about. "Oh?" Lauren inquired before she headed right back to the leather chair across from her father and took a seat with curiousness shining all throughout her blue irises. "What is it?" The River Vixen asked her father as she got comfortable in the cool leather chair.

"I've recently been in talks with someone these past few days about a new business opportunity for the family," Joseph began as he folded his arms across his cherry wooden desk. The Lanzetta man twitched his head slightly to the side before he asked his daughter her opinion, "what would you think about conjoining The Velvet Room with a partner?"

Lauren silently nodded her head, to herself, with her brows slightly furrowed as she took in her father's words. The Lanzetta teenager knew that any new business for their trio of The Velvet Room - which was three separate locations for their nightclub, restaurant, and stripclub - was very good to continue their flow of money, so she was definitely interested in learning more about the person that her father had mentioned. "What exactly does this potential partner bring to the table?" Lauren asked her father as she knew that they needed to be smart about this or it could ruin the three locations.

Joseph brightly grinned as he watched his only daughter ask the important questions like a true business woman in the Lanzetta crime family. It made the lawyer proud that Lauren was so serious about the family business after only a year of being involved. "I've only talked with him over the phone a few times but he seems very serious about this deal," Joseph told his heir before he explained about the potential partnership, "he wants to join together with The Velvet Room locations with his alcohol distributor business in New York."

Lauren was now extremely confused. "We already have a distributor with the Constanza family supplying all of our alcohol needs for the clubs and the restaurant," the Lanzetta teenager stated the obvious before she inquired as she tried to understand why her father was looking into this potential partnership, "so, why would we want to join this deal when we are already getting a thirty-seven percent discount off of our orders?"

The Lanzetta man leaned back in his leather chair with a smirk playing on his lips as he loved when his daughter would think like this. It was one of the reasons why Lauren was quickly moving up the ladder after only just a year involved with the family business. "Well, sweetheart," Joseph began with a silent sigh before he explained why this deal was so beneficial for them, "our potential partner sells this up and coming drug called 'Devil's Tongue,' so the drug would come with the alcohol partnership for a small percentage of The Velvet Room and we can start selling without being under suspicion since there would be nothing but the alcohol distributor coming in and out of the three locations."

Lauren bit down on her cherry red lip as she took in the information about this potential partnership that would make them lots of money before a thought suddenly popped into the brunette girl's head. "And what about Jingle Jangle?" The Lanzetta teenager inquired before she commented, "we still have that partnership with the Ghoulies."

Joseph rolled his dark eyes at the thought of the other main gang on the Southside of Riverdale before he muttered in annoyance, "fuck those greedy bastards." The Lanzetta man hated dealing with those studded leather wearing kids - even though they did bring in good money from all of the Jiggle Jangle. Joseph wanted to take this deal partly because he wanted to end this partnership with the Ghoulies so he figured it was the perfect opportunity. "Anyways," Joseph continued as he told his daughter, "we need to stay up in the game, sweetheart. If we want our clients to keep coming back, then we need to offer something new and better to keep them happy."

_That makes sense,_ Lauren thought to herself as she knew from her experiences of running The Velvet Room that the dancers at the stripclub are always mentioning that their clients are always asking for new product. However, though, the one thing that bothered Lauren was the fact that she had never heard of this drug and she didn't know if it would sell well or if it was just a scam to get a cut in their clubs. "What exactly is this 'Devil's Tongue' and how would we distribute it?"

The boss of the Lanzetta crime family shot his daughter a wide grin as he was, once again, proud of Lauren's thought process of the business before he explained what the drug were, "it's just like California Sunrise. You put it in your mouth and it dissolves." Joseph lightly shook his head before he continued, "but unlike all other forms of LSD, Devil's Tongue is made with the same ingredients as ecstasy for a more intense high, so it'll be perfect for the club scene."

Joseph made sure his daughter was following along before he continued to answer her questions, "and for how we would distribute it, I was thinking of bringing in some muscle with a couple of your cousins from San Fran to sell the drugs on the Southside and look into some of the bartenders and dancers at the clubs to sell directly to their customers like we have been doing with the Jiggle Jangle."

The office at the Lanzetta Law Firm grew silent for a few minutes as Lauren went through all of the information about this potential business opportunity. Lauren did like this idea of bringing in this new drug - especially when it would come through their alcohol distributor - instead of taking the chance of getting caught by getting Jingle Jangle from the Southside. They wouldn't even need to leave The Velvet Room to get their supply of Devil's Tongue.

However, even though this deal sounded perfect, the Lanzetta teenager didn't completely trust it. "I think before we decide anything, we should have a meeting with this guy," Lauren told her father as she crossed her arms over her burgundy coat, "we need to make sure he's the real deal and we can trust what he says." Lauren knew from everything that her father had taught in the last year that she could never be too trusting in people, so she knew that they couldn't come to a conclusion until they met the guy to get a feel of this potential deal.

"Smart girl," the Lanzetta man murmured with a grin stretched across his lips before he commented with a nod of his head, "I was thinking the same thing." Joseph leaned back in his leather chair before he told his daughter from what he had been told yesterday about their potential partner, "he's supposed to be arriving back into town tonight. I wanted to talk with you first to see what you think, but I'll give him a call soon to set it up."

Lauren nodded her head in understanding before she began to tell her father, "let me know -" However, though, before the brunette girl could tell her father to let her know when the meeting would take place, she was suddenly interrupted when her cell phone began to ring in the pocket of her burgundy coat. Lauren shot her father a small apologetically smile as she murmurs, "sorry, daddy," before she pulled out her cell phone and noticed that it was Betty who was calling her.

The Lanzetta teenager immediately pressed the green accept button on her cell phone as she was worried that her blonde best friend was calling with news about the injured Fred Andrews. Lauren brought the device up to ear while she anxiously chewed on her red bottom lip before she finally greeted the blonde, "hey, B, is everything alright?"

"Hey, Lala," the Cooper girl greeted her best friend back before she quickly assured Lauren, "everything is still alright." Betty glanced over to her boyfriend on his motorcycle before she informed the brunette girl, "I was calling because Jug and I are about to head to Pop's to look for Mr. Andrews' wallet and I figured you would want to join as well to see if we can find anything useful." 

Lauren released a small breath of relief at the fact that everything was still okay with Fred. She was still so worried about the Andrews man since he was still stuck in surgery, so Lauren was glad that everything was still the same - even though that wasn't exactly a good thing. Lauren quickly shook her head as she forced herself to not think like that before she focused back onto the awaiting Cooper girl as she teasingly asked by hiding her worrying, "is the detective team getting back together?"

Betty let out an amused chuckle for the first time since she had found out about the injured Andrews man - which felt good through this stressful day. "Yes, we are," the Cooper girl affirmed what Lauren had jokingly asked before she inquired, even though she probably already knew the answer from the always determined Lanzetta teenager, "are you coming?"

"Of course, Ms. Cooper," Lauren instantly responded in a playful and posh voice before she immediately grew serious as she reminded herself what was at stake right now. "We need to find out what happened last night," the Lanzetta teenager stated the only thing that she could focus on at the moment before Lauren informed her best friend, "I'll meet you guys at the diner in twenty."

Lauren waited until the Cooper girl said that she and Jughead would see her soon before the Lanzetta teenager ended the phone call and slipped her cell phone back into her burgundy coat. The River Vixen then focused back onto her father, who was patiently watching her, before she uttered with a small chuckle, "duty calls." 

Lauren stood up from the leather chair and fixed her leather purse on her shoulder before she informed her father, "we might have a lead on what happened to Fred at the diner." The Lanzetta teenager moved around her father's office before she requested, "but if you hear anything, let me know."

Joseph nodded his head as he also stood up from his chair and met his daughter towards the side of his large desk. "I will," the Lanzetta man promised before he connected his dark eyes with Lauren's blue ones and ordered in a serious voice, "be careful, sweetheart." Joseph didn't like not knowing what was going on in their small town, so the mobster felt a little on edge about this hooded man when his only daughter and wife were always running around Riverdale. 

"I always am, daddy," Lauren uttered with a small smirk pulled on her painted red lips before she leaned up on her heeled boots and placed a gentle kiss to her father's cheek. "Have a fun day with your meetings," the Lanzetta teenager teased her father with a chuckle before she exited out of his office with the sound of her father's groaning trailing behind her.

Lauren tried to calm her racing heart as she made her way through her parents' floor and entered the elevator. The Lanzetta teenager just wanted to find out what happened to Fred Andrews and it was driving her crazy that the police were no help. Lauren had always made sure that her loved one were taken care of - like when she made sure Betty had the best pillows and candies when she broke her arm in second grade or when Cheryl lost her favorite pair of Gucci heels and she had bought her a new pair - so it was frustrating that this whole ordeal was such a mystery to everyone.  

However, Lauren was not just about to give up - even though the police were doing a shitty job at solving the crime. The Lanzetta teenager knew that she just needed to keep her hopes high that she and her detective team of Jughead and Betty could find something that connected the crime at the diner. 

The Lanzetta teenager felt like she needed to do this for Archie and Fred, so Lauren pushed away all of the thoughts about this potential partner for the family business and focused along with centered her mind with only the thought of finding justice for her father-like figure. Lauren swore to herself as she exited out of Lanzetta Law Firm that she would not stop until she got the answers that they needed to find out who shot Fred Andrews. 


	4. Burgers & Onion Rings

Lauren parked her black BMW in the parking lot right underneath her and Jughead's usual booth in the far corner once she arrived at Pop's diner after she had left her father's office. The Lanzetta teenager took out the keys from the ignition and stored them inside of her black leather purse before she exited out of her vehicle. Lauren then glanced around the empty parking lot for only a few seconds before she spotted her fellow detective partners.

The Lanzetta teenager gave the couple a small wave along with a small smile before she strutted across the parking lot in her heeled boots and met her best friends at the door of Pop's diner. "Hey, guys," Lauren greeted the beanie-wearing teenager and the blonde before she inquired with her brows slightly furrowed in worry, "how's Fred and Archie doing?" 

The Cooper girl anxiously crossed her arms over her bubblegum pink sweater before she answered Lauren's question, "Fred's still in surgery. They're trying to repair the hole in his stomach." Betty took a deep breath as she was riddled with worry before she continued as she explained how their friend was doing, "and Veronica took Archie home to, hopefully, get him to relax for a little bit."

Lauren slowly nodded her head as she bit down on her painted red lip before she mumbled, "that's good." The Lanzetta girl could only imagine how Archie was doing right now. She was glad that Veronica was taking care of him, though. Lauren would have liked to be there for Archie but she was happy that someone was looking after him. Lauren just prayed that the doctors would do everything in their power in keeping Fred Andrews alive.

The parking lot right outside of Pop's diner grew silent for a few tense moments as each of the three teenagers thought about the Andrews duo before Jughead finally cleared his throat and spoke up. "Well, let's get in there," the Jones teenager mumbled before he pulled open the front door of the diner and allowed Betty and Lauren to enter first before he followed quickly after.

The three teenagers glanced around the empty Pop's diner for only a moment or so before their presence was felt by the owner of the establishment. "Sorry, kids," Pop Tate apologized to his loyal customers before he murmured with a mop clutched tightly in his left hand, "we're closed today. There was, uh -"

However, before Pop could explain what happened at the diner, the Cooper girl quickly interrupted as she stated, "Pop, we heard about what happened." Betty pointed her thumb back towards the front door of the diner as she told the older man the reason for why they were here, "we just got back from the hospital to look for Mr. Andrews' wallet. It's missing."

The older man quickly moved closer to the three teenagers at the mention of the Andrews man with worry shining throughout his brown irises. "Is he -" Pop Tate anxiously began to question but he couldn't even get the words fully out of his mouth.

However, the three teenagers all knew what Pop was asking, so Lauren quickly assured the older man with a soft smile, "he's in surgery but it's looking good." The Lanzetta girl knew that they didn't know that for certain, that Fred would be okay, but she knew during times like these, everyone just wants to know everything was going to be okay. 

Pop took a deep breath of relief that he seemingly been holding in since late last night before he softly whispered, "all right." The older man moved around his diner while he told the three teenagers as he pointed to where Fred and Archie had been seated at during the attack, "the police have already looked. But if you wanna double-check, he was in that booth, there."

Lauren gave the older man a thankful smile before she, Betty, and Jughead carefully stepped over the large pile of dark red blood. While the two teenage girls moved to the Andrews' booth, Jughead focused his attention back onto Pop. "So, uh, what happened, Pop?" The Jones teenager questioned, "from your point of view?"

Pop released a heavy sigh as he mumbled, "ah, I wish I knew." The older man briefly closed his eyes as he felt ashamed of what happened here last night before he told the three teenagers from his memory, "as soon as that gun turned off me, I... God help me, I dove." Pop busied himself by trying to clean up all of the blood before he continued, "I don't even remember calling the police, but I guess I did."

Lauren, who had been examining the booth that the Andrews duo had been sitting in last with Betty, moved towards Jughead and the older man when she couldn't find Fred's wallet nor any calling card from the shooter. "Hey, Pop," the Lanzetta girl called out before she curiously inquired, "have you had the chance to see how much money was stolen from the register?"

Pop Tate furrowed his brows as he stared at the brunette girl before he finally shook his head. "Not a penny," the older man mumbled after his mind recalled the memories of what happened last night.

While Betty quickly moved towards Pop along with her boyfriend and best friend in shock, Jughead and Lauren immediately looked at each other with a knowing look. "See, I knew it," the Jones teenager exclaimed as he snapped his thumb and middle finger together. "What kind of thief shoots up a joint and then doesn't take a single dollar bill?" Jughead questioned as he shook his head.

"He wasn't a thief," Lauren answered the beanie-wearing teenager's question with what she had thought all along. It was what both she and Jughead had thought since it didn't really add up when Archie had told the police about what happened - that it could have been a setup. It just didn't make sense for it to be a robbery. 

"Over the years, this place has been robbed many times," Pop Tate told the three teenagers, "bricks through the windows, even, during the riots." The older man shook his head as he stated, "I've looked plenty of thugs in the eye, but this man, his goal was something else. Darker." Pop looked each of the teenagers in the eye as he muttered ominously, "it was like the Angel of Death had come to Riverdale."

"Jeez, Pop," the Jones teenager mumbled with a slight smile on his face before he told the older man, "lighten up." Jughead released a small but equally awkward chuckle before he commented, "you sound like the cranky old guy in the Friday the 13th movies."

Lauren immediately slapped her beanie-wearing best friend's denim jacket as she exclaimed, "hey!" The Lanzetta teenager amusingly shook her head at Jughead before she jokingly scolded him, "don't go hating on the classics."

"What?" The Jones teenager wondered with a small chuckle. Jughead shrugged his denim clad shoulders before he told his best friend in a serious voice, "hey, I'm all for the Friday the 13th movies but this isn't a movie, Lala."

"Guys," the Cooper teenager mumbled as she interrupted the conversation between her boyfriend and best friend. Betty let out a low sigh before she told them as she shook her head, "the wallet's not here."

The three teenagers all immediately released disappointed sighs at the fact that they couldn't find Fred's wallet like they had planned. It wasn't even just the fact that they couldn't find the collection of money, photos, and cards. It was the disappointment that they couldn't do this one thing for Archie, who was barely hanging on by a thread. Lauren, Betty, and Jughead were always about helping their friends in a difficult time, so it sucked that they couldn't do more for Archie and Fred Andrews.

The investigating trio knew there was no point in staying at the diner any longer since their quest in finding Fred's wallet was unsuccessful. However, before any of the teenagers could say goodbye to Pop, the Lanzetta girl was interrupted when her cell phone began to ring inside of her burgundy coat. Lauren gave everyone in the room an apologetic smile before she pulled out her device. 

**VEE 👠👗💕 CAN YOU BRING BURGERS BACK FROM THE DINER? I CAN'T EAT ANOTHER MEAL FROM THE HOSPITAL CAFETERIA 🤢🙏🏼**

The Lanzetta girl couldn't help but to chuckle quietly to herself as she read her best friend's text message, while she ignored the puzzled looks for Jughead and Betty, since she knew Veronica had only eaten ONE meal from Riverdale General's cafeteria. However, Lauren could understand, though, since hospital food usually sucks, so the brunette girl shot Veronica a text back with the promise of food before she placed her cell phone back into her coat. 

"Hey, Pop," the Lanzetta teenager called out to the older man before she curiously wondered, "is the kitchen open?" Lauren wasn't totally sure that it would be since the diner was not open with Pop just cleaning up the mess from the shooting of Fred Andrews. 

Pop Tate looked up from the blood that had covered every inch of the wooden mop and over to the brunette teenager before he slowly shook his head. "It's not," the older man stated, much to Lauren's dismay, before the caring man questioned, "does it need to be?"

"Well, its just everyone's hungry at the hospital. You know, all the people that are there supporting Archie and his dad," the Lanzetta teenager explained to the owner of the diner with a sickeningly sweet smile plastered across her face as she hoped that Pop would be willing to open up his kitchen after she had already promised Veronica. The brunette girl knew there was always the other diner in Riverdale, Shelly's Shack, but nothing beats Pop's burgers. 

The older man hummed to himself as he stared at Lauren and took in her words before he finally nodded his head. "I'll do anything for the Andrews family after what happened last night," Pop stated as he still felt so bad for not helping Fred before he got shot. Pop knew it wasn't his fault but he still felt guilty for not doing more to prevent it. "Give me about fifteen minutes and I'll have some burgers ready to go," Pop Tate told the Lanzetta girl as he went to turn around to start up the kitchen.

However, though, before the older man could get too far, Lauren quickly added with a sheepish smile, "uh, actually, Pop, it's more than just the usual group. You'll be feeding a group of River Vixens and Bulldogs, as well." The Lanzetta teenager knew Pop would need a whole crew to knock out all those orders, so the brunette offered a helping hand as she told Pop, "and if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to help."

"Yeah," the Cooper girl quickly spoke up with her sweet and innocent smile adoring her face. Betty bumped her shoulder into her boyfriend's jean-clad one before she told Pop Tate, "we would love to help, too."

The owner of the diner immediately grinned at the three teenagers with a grateful expression displayed across his face before he murmured, "that would be great, kids." Pop Tate waved his hand after he placed the bloody mop against a booth before he stated as he lead the trio into the back of the diner, "well, come on."

Once Pop Tate and the trio of detective teenagers were inside of the kitchen of the diner, the older man immediately walked up to the flattop and turned up the heat. Pop then busied himself for a few minutes as he got out the right ingredients for the burgers like the beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and Pop's Secret Sauce. The older man placed everything on the assembly line before he looked back at the three teenagers. 

"Alright," Pop began as he stared solely at Betty and Lauren before he instructed, "you girls can get started on the burgers." The older man glanced over to the beef as he explained, "they are already formed, so all you gotta do now is throw them on the flattop for a few minutes." Pop then pointed over to the things that goes on the burger before he continued, "once they are finished, you can load them up." The older man looked around him for a moment before he mumbled as he glanced around his kitchen, "and the wrapping paper should be lying around here somewhere." 

"I know where it's at, Pop," the Lanzetta teenager quickly assured the older man with a small smile shining across her painted red lips. Lauren was quite familiar with everything in the diner since she had paid her dues last year when she used to work at the diner before she found out about the Lanzetta family business and got involved. 

Pop Tate stared across at the brunette girl for a moment as he made sure that Betty and Lauren could handle the burgers before he murmured, "very well." The older man then turned his gaze onto the beanie-wearing teenager once he knew the burgers were in good hands before he told Jughead as he slowly began to walk away from the flattop, "let's go get you set up on the onion rings."

Once Pop and Jughead walked over to the fryer, the Lanzetta and the Cooper girls got ready as they fixed their hairs into ponytails at the base of their necks and placed clear gloves over their painted fingers before they got started on cooking the hamburgers with Betty handing Lauren the patties and the experienced cook placing the patties onto the sizzling flattop. This process continued for awhile in a comfortable silence as they cooked about thirty patties to feed their army of River Vixens and Bulldogs. 

The calm silence between the two best friends soon came to an end, though, after Lauren had made sure that the burgers were cooked perfectly and she had them laid out of the assembly line to be put together just like Pop does them. "Hey, I forgot to ask," Betty began as she placed the first hamburger bun onto the red and white wrapping paper before she glanced over to Lauren and inquired, "did your dad end up finding anything useful about what happened with Archie's dad?"

The Lanzetta teenager released a small sigh as she shook her head. "Nope," Lauren mumbled in disappointment before she told Betty about what she had found out from her father, "daddy barely even heard about what happened but he did say he was going to meet up with the Serpents later today to see what they know." The brunette girl shot her best friend a small smile before she lightly lied, "daddy also said he was going to talk to a few guys who know the gossip on the streets, so hopefully he'll find something that can help us."

Lauren couldn't exactly tell the Cooper girl that her father was putting a few men from the Lanzetta mob out onto the streets to go digging for information. The only person that actually knew about what her family really did was Jughead. However, he only knew because her father did a lot of business on the Southside like one of the strip clubs along with a medical clinic and also working very closely with the Serpents. 

The Cooper girl released her own sigh at Lauren's answer as that was not what she was hoping for. Betty had thought that the Lanzetta man would have found something but she was relieved that it was being looked into. "I hope so, too," the blonde teenager told Lauren as she shot the brunette girl a sad smile as she prayed that they could find something to help Fred Andrews. 

The blonde and brunette best friends shared similar looks of wanting to figure out this guy-in-the-hood problem before they focused back onto their tasks since they would have to wait until they could investigate more. However, Lauren and Betty did spend the next fifteen minutes talking about their theories of who could have hurt the Andrews man as they wrapped the hamburgers. They continued to do this for another ten minutes before Lauren cheered after she wrapped the last burger, "there! We're all done!"

Betty shook her head as she stared down at thirty or so wrapped hamburgers with a look of disbelief. "I don't know how you used to do this," the Cooper girl commented as she rang her hands through the air as she tried to get rid of the soreness that she felt from placing the vegetables in the burgers and wrapping them up. 

Lauren released a small chuckle before she shot the blonde girl a wide grin. "It was easy," the Lanzetta teenager commented with a small shrug of her burgundy coat as she remembered her days as a cook for the diner before Lauren added, "but then again, I never was feeding an army like we are doing now."

The Cooper girl let out a small giggle as she uttered, "fair point." The two teenagers shared a moment of laughter together before Betty called out through the kitchen, "hey, Juggy!" The blonde girl then turned around when she didn't get a response as she was curious to know if Jughead had finished making the onion rings but quickly gasped when she saw Jughead was right in front of her. "Oh!" Betty exclaimed before she placed her hands onto Jughead's chest and mumbled with a blush to her pale cheeks, "you scared me."

The Jones teenager released a small chuckle before he joked, "I gotta keep you on your toes." Jughead placed a quick kiss onto his girlfriend's plump lips since he wasn't really one for public affection before he tossed his arm over Betty's shoulders and looked over to his best friend. "All finished here?" Jughead wondered as he glanced towards all of the burgers. 

"Yep," the Lanzetta teenager responded as she nodded her head. Lauren leaned back against the counter before she pointed her blue irises towards the direction that Jughead had came from as she questioned, "what about you?"

Jughead nodded his head as well before he explained, "Pop's loading them into some boxes."

Lauren's body straightened up at her best friend's answer before she commented, "we should do that, too." The Lanzetta teenager walked around the large kitchen and towards the back room where she knew all the supplies were located before she grabbed three big boxes. Lauren then silently handed them out before she, Betty, and Jughead started to load the burgers into the boxes to take to the hospital.

The three teenagers continued to load up the food for a few silent minutes before Pop Tate made his presence known with his heavy footsteps. Pop placed the white box of onion rings down onto the counter next to the boxes of burgers before he told the trio with an aged smile shining across his face, "you're all set, kids."

Lauren shot the older man a wide grin before she showed her praise for letting them use his kitchen, "thank you, Pop, for doing this." The Lanzetta teenager then moved and grabbed her black leather purse from the counter beside her before she asked as she dug around for her wallet, "how much will this all cost?"

Pop Tate immediately shook his head as he waved his hands through the air. "That won't be necessary," the older man quickly told the brunette girl before he stated as it was the least he could do for the Andrews family, "it's on the house."

Lauren pouted at the older man as she didn't want anything free - especially from Pop when he had helped her so many times when she was growing up and because he is such an important person for Riverdale. "Alright," the Lanzetta teenager agreed before she mumbled, "but only this time." 

Pop Tate grinned at the brunette girl before he looked at the three teenagers. "Enjoy the burgers, kids," the older man mumbled before he told them, "be careful."

"We will," the Cooper girl uttered with a bright smile shining across her face. "Have a nice day, Pop," Betty told the older man before she, Lauren, and Jughead each grabbed a box of food with Jughead also grabbing the one that held the onion rings.

The three teenagers took their exit out of the kitchen before they walked back into the main part of the diner. While Betty and Jughead made their way to the front door, Lauren made a quick stop at the counter. Lauren placed the box of burgers onto the counter before she quickly placed three one hundred dollar bills inside of the tip jar. "Thank you, Pop," the brunette girl whispered with a wide grin on her face before she quickly grabbed her box and headed out the front door.

Lauren, Betty, and Jughead walked towards the Lanzetta girl's black BMW since the Jones teenager only had his motorcycle and there was no way he could store the burgers and onion rings. However, though, before they could even get half way across the parking lot, they were soon interrupted when a familiar voice called out Lauren's name from beside the diner. 

The Lanzetta teenager glanced over her burgundy clad shoulder before a wide grin immediately pulled onto her face when she had been right when she saw a certain Serpent. Lauren focused back onto Betty and Jughead as she told them, "give me a minute." She then placed her box of burgers on top of Betty's and pulled out her car keys before she handed them over to Jughead so they didn't have to wait on her. 

Lauren waited until the couple of Jughead and Betty continued to walk towards her car before she swiftly turned around and sped walk up to the Serpent, who was also walking towards her. The Lanzetta teenager didn't even get the chance to say anything once they were only inches apart as the tattooed Serpent, who happened to be her boyfriend, pulled her into a fierce and passionate kiss. 

Lauren didn't mind her boyfriend's actions, though. She actually loved it. Lauren loved the excitement, danger, and desire that surrounded their one year relationship. The Lanzetta girl finally pulled away from the passionate embrace when she felt like she couldn't breathe before she shot Daniel a happy grin from the sight of him. "What are you doing here?" Lauren curiously wondered as she wrapped her hands around Daniel's neck and played with the labels of his leather Serpent jacket. 

"What?" The Southside Serpent questioned with a smirk playing on his plump lips as he wrapped his arms protectively around Lauren's waist, "can't I check up on my girl?"

The Lanzetta teenager playfully rolled her blue irises at her boyfriend before she muttered, "oh, I'm sure that's why you're here." 

Daniel released a deep chuckle from the pit of his chest that shook both him and Lauren since she was practically pressed against his front. "So, what's up?" The Sen biker questioned once he had stopped laughing and Lauren had slapped his chest before he continued, "what's with the radio silence?"

Lauren immediately furrowed her brows as she stared up at her boyfriend. "What are you talking about?" The Lanzetta teenager wondered as she had no clue what the Serpent was going on about since she hadn't heard from him since last night. 

Daniel rolled his brown eyes before he placed his right hand into Lauren's burgundy coat pocket and silently pulled out her cell phone. The Serpent quickly took a step back when Lauren yelled out, "hey," as she tried to get her device back. Daniel released an amused chuckle at her complaining as he unlocked Lauren's phone that had a photo of them plastered on the lockscreen. The Sen biker pulled up the iMessages app before he showed Lauren her phone that held ten text messages all from him.

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : Good morning, gorgeousss 😘**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : Do you wanna ride to school? 🏍😉**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : Shit. You have practice today, don't you?**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : Shoot me a txt when ur on break so I know you actually made it to school.💖**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : IDK why u get up so early to go to school 🙄**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : L A U R E N  H E L L L L L L L O !!**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : B A B Y !!**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : I'm worried. Call me as soon as you can**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : I'm coming to find you**

**DANNY BOY 🥰💖 : I love you**

"Oh, fuck," the Lanzetta teenager swore as she grabbed her cell phone and, sure enough, saw the text messages that she hadn't seen from her boyfriend. "I am so sorry, babe," Lauren apologized as she tightened her hands around Daniel's leather jacket before she placed a quick kiss onto his lips. "Everything's been shit since practice," the brunette girl stated before she explained for her radio silence, "Archie's dad, Fred, was shot last night and I've been running around town trying to help out to find who did it."

The Sen biker rubbed the pad of his thumb against Lauren's right cheek as he softly murmured, "I'm sorry to hear about that, bǎobèi."

The Lanzetta teenager couldn't help but roll her blue eyes at her boyfriend. "I'm sure you are," Lauren mumbled as she knew how her red headed best friend wasn't Daniel's biggest fan. It mostly had to deal with Sweet Pea's influence and his hate for the Northsiders. 

"Hey, come on, now," Daniel began as he gripped onto the Lanzetta girl's chin and softly stared down into her blue irises with his brown ones before he stated, "I'm not completely heartless." The Sen biker lightly shrugged his leather clad shoulders as he added, "besides, I know how much Fred means to you."

A deep frown instantly pulled onto the Lanzetta teenager's face at the mention of Fred's name. Lauren still felt so heartbroken from what happened to the man, who was like her second father. It made it even worse that she couldn't do anything to help Fred at the moment. Lauren couldn't help but to feel this wave of sadness as she thought about the red headed man, so she gently placed her head onto Daniel's warm chest before she mumbled, "he means a lot to me."

The Sen biker placed a soft kiss onto the crown of Lauren's brunette hair and stayed there for a moment before he quietly asked against the Lanzetta girl's head, "you gonna be okay?"

Lauren couldn't help but to roll her blue eyes at the question before she pushed herself out of her boyfriend's chest. "Yeah, I'll be fine," the Lanzetta teenager told Daniel as if it was obvious before she added with a small smile, "I always am."

Daniel pushed a portion of the Lanzetta girl's brunette hair behind her ear before he cradled the right side of Lauren's face. "I know you are but you it doesn't mean that you have to be all the time," the Southside Serpent softly murmured as he tried to comfort his girlfriend when he knew she was struggling. 

The River Vixen's heart instantly melted at the sight of her usually angry biker boyfriend's gentle words. Lauren always loved when Daniel would go out of his hard exterior and be that big softy for her. However, Lauren was one to not show her fears and to always be strong like her father taught her to do, so the Lanzetta girl joked to hide her true emotions, "it's in my blood."

"You know," Daniel had began to comfort his girlfriend about how she didn't need to hide herself from him and how she can vent to him but before he could say anything more, Daniel was soon interrupted when the Prince of the Southside started to honk the horn in the Lanzetta teenager's black BMW. 

Lauren released an amused chuckle at her impatient friend, she was surprised Jughead lasted this long, and her very annoyed boyfriend. The brunette girl loved the relationship between her boyfriend and best friend. It was funny watching them go back and forth with one another with their hate - even though she knew they didn't actually hate each other. Lauren shot her annoyed boyfriend a small smile before she murmured, "duty calls."

The Sen Serpent puffed out a heavy sigh before he silently nodded his head in understanding as he knew Lauren had food to deliver from what he had seen with the boxes that the trio had been carrying. "Do you want me to come with?" Daniel wondered as he wanted to be there for Lauren. He knew how much stress the brunette girl always placed on her shoulders, so he wanted to at least ease it by being close by to assure her that everything would be alright.

The Lanzetta teenager shook her head with a tiny grin playing on her lips, "Nah," Lauren uttered before she explained why it wasn't best for Daniel to come with her, "I don't want to bore you to death. I'm just going to be in the waiting room while we wait for news about Fred." The brunette girl appreciated the thought, though. It meant a lot to Lauren that her boyfriend was willing to be around the Northsiders for her. 

Daniel nodded his head once more in understanding - even though he'd rather be there for his girlfriend. "Well, give me a call if need anything, alright?" The Sen biker instructed as he stared down into Lauren's blue irises before he softly murmured, "I'll drop everything for you."

Lauren shot her boyfriend a soft smile as she loved hearing his sweet words before she promised him, "I will." The Lanzetta teenager then pulled Daniel into a kiss filled with passion and love. However, though, when Lauren began to feel as Daniel slid his hands down her waist and squeezed her ass while ruining the sweet moment, the brunette girl pulled away. Lauren shook her head with a soft chuckle before she told him with a smirk plastered across her painted red lips, "I gotta go."

The tattooed Sen biker pouted down at his girlfriend like a innocent puppy before he mumbled, "fine." Daniel leaned down and placed another kiss onto Lauren's lips before he placed a soft peck onto her forehead. "I'll see you later," Daniel promised before he finally released the brunette girl from his grasp and let Lauren walk away from his embrace. 

The Lanzetta teenager blew her boyfriend a kiss as she started to walk backwards and yelled out, "love you," before she quickly jogged to her car and jumped into the driver's seat. The first thing that Lauren noticed once she entered her black BMW was the grinning Cooper girl and the extremely annoyed Jughead Jones. The brunette girl released a small chuckle before she teasingly asked as she pulled out of the parking lot, "what crawled up your ass?"

Jughead crossed his arms over his denim clad chest before he complained to his best friend with a heavy eye roll as he looked out his window and looked at the Serpent on his motorcycle, the current bane to his hungry stomach, "the burgers are getting cold all because you couldn't say no to tattoos over there."

Lauren rolled her blue eyes right back at her best friend before she exclaimed, "oh, shut up!" The Lanzetta girl glanced back to Jughead in the backseat before she asked him, "do you know how many times I've kept my mouth shut when you and B made out?" Lauren didn't wait for a response before she stated, "a lot." The brunette girl shrugged her shoulders as she continued to drive through Riverdale before she told Jughead, "besides, no one said you couldn't take a burger right now."

There was the loud giggle from Betty Cooper that immediately escaped her mouth as she watched the conversation play out between her boyfriend and her best friend. "Oh, he already did," the blonde teenager told Lauren as she glanced back to Jughead with a wide grin shinned across her pink lips. 

"What the hell, Juggy!" The Lanzetta teenager practically screeched when she learned that new piece of information from the Cooper girl. "You ass," Lauren loudly exclaimed before she mumbled under her breath, even though everyone in the black BMW could obviously hear her, "complaining for nothing."

The Jones teenager pouted from his spot in the backseat before he mumbled out an excuse so it didn't seem like he was complaining for nothing like Lauren had commented on, "well... I didn't have any onion rings yet."

The Lanzetta teenager couldn't help but immediately burst out into a heavy laughter - along with Betty - at the pouting Jughead Jones. It was something Lauren was used to but always found hilarious - something that Jughead only showed around her, Betty, and Archie. The brunette girl shook her head at her best friend before she uttered with nothing but love in her voice for the beanie-wearing teenager, "you are so annoying, Juggy."

The detective trio of the Lanzetta, Cooper, and Jones teenagers continued to joke back and forth with one another like they always do - despite what was going on - as Lauren drove through the busy town of Riverdale before the brunette girl finally pulled, thankfully, into a front row spot at Riverdale General. The three teenagers then all grabbed their boxes of burgers and onion rings before they headed straight to the waiting room.

"Who's hungry?" Jughead loudly asked the room that was filled to the brim with concerned parents, River Vixens, and Bulldogs alike before the Jones teenagers stated as he, Betty, and Lauren placed the group of white boxes down onto the glass table in front of the seating area, "we've got burgers and onions rings!"

The supposedly silent waiting area of Riverdale General was immediately overcome by loud whoops, hollers, and cheers at the mention of food and the familiar sight of the white and red wrapping paper from Pop's diner before Reggie Mantle, resident Bulldog, exclaimed over the loud sounds of excitement, "hell yeah!"

The group of teenagers practically rushed to reach the boxes of food while Veronica Lodge walked up to the Lanzetta teenager with a wide grin proudly displayed across her lips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," the brown eyed girl chanted out her praise as if she was getting a mind blowing orgasm. 

The Lanzetta teenager let out an amused chuckle before she told Veronica with a grin of her own, "you are very welcome." Lauren playfully bumped her hip into the Lodge girl's black dress covered one before she sarcastically uttered as she teased Veronica about her text message, "I knew you were just dying for some real food."

Veronica playfully bumped her hip right back into the Lanzetta girl's burgundy coat covered one before she mumbled with a slight embarrassed blush to her tan cheeks, "shut it."

The two teenage girls couldn't help but to burst into a giggling mess as they clung onto each other to help stand upright. Lauren and Veronica had always been the closest out of their group of friends ever since Veronica arrived in Riverdale. Lauren figured it had something to do with how they were both raised - in a rich and business-like family. It also probably had to deal with the fact that they've made out on several occasions for fun before Veronica got with Archie and Lauren got with Daniel but that wasn't important anymore. 

"Come on," the Lanzetta teenager told her dark haired best friend as she linked her arm through Veronica's. "Let's go get some food before Jughead eats it all," Lauren joked as she pulled Veronica into the fray of noisy teenagers to grab their own meal of a burger and onion rings.

It took awhile before Lauren and Veronica had finally made it to the table but when they did, they grabbed five sets of burgers and five packages of onion rings before the two teenagers called Betty, Jughead, and Archie with them to eat somewhere quieter than the noisy waiting room - where an older woman was currently yelling at all of the teenagers to be quiet. 

The group of friends ended up going to the spot where Sheriff Keller had held his interview with Archie earlier that day. The five teenagers sat there in comfortable silence as they ate their food and had small conversations with each other before Betty turned her attention onto Archie with a soft smile plastered across pink lips. "Your dad would be so proud of you, Arch," the Cooper girl told the red headed teenager.

"Yeah," Jughead muttered in agreement as he slowly nodded his head while he chewed up his second burger. "You've really been a rock-star God through all of this," the Jones teenager continued once he swallowed up his food with a slight awkward chuckle escaping through his lips a moment after.

The Lanzetta teenager shot Archie a small but comforting smile before she also added to Jughead and Betty's reassuring words with a small joke, "Clark Kent, who? I only know Archie Andrews." It was something that Lauren was very known for. Lauren, even though she did joke to cover up her own emotions, liked to use jokes to make her friends feel better or to even crack a tiny smile.

However, Lauren didn't get that smile from Archie like she was used to getting from her joking ways. The Lodge girl was the second one to take notice of the crestfallen expression on the Andrews teenager's face after the Lanzetta girl. "Archie, what is it?" Veronica worriedly asked her boyfriend before she softly told him as she glanced over to the other three teenagers at the small table, "talk to us. Maybe we can help."

The Andrews teenager sat there for a few tense minutes after Veronica's helping words before he finally shook his head and confessed with heavy emotions clouding his voice, "guys, there's something I haven't told you, 'cause I'm so... I'm so ashamed." Archie was immediately pulled back into the memory of last night with a slight flinch of his body before he recalled the events to his friends and girlfriend, "after the guy fired, I should've rushed to my dad straight away or I should've tackled the guy, but I was paralyzed."

Archie brought both of his hands to cover his eyes as he could feel tears building up behind them before he slowly continued with his story with a slight stutter to his words, "I-I didn't move, not even when the guy walked up to me and he held his gun to my head. And I just closed my eyes. I don't know how long." The Andrews teenager lightly shrugged his shoulders as he thought about what he was saying before he commented, "long enough for the guy to have taken my dad's wallet, I guess."

Archie took a deep breath as he slowly brought his teary eyes up to look at each face around the small table before he concluded with his tale of the events from Pop's diner with sadness and heartbreak flowing throughout his voice, "but I didn't open them until I heard the bell. Pop's bell. Which meant he was gone."

"Arch," the Lanzetta girl softly called out to her best friend to gain his attention before she murmured, "you can't blame yourself." Lauren gently shook her head as she tried to help Archie with his emotions and his guilt for what happened, "you made the right choice or you would have also be in the hospital as well. You couldn't have done anything else differently to save Freddy."

The Andrews teenager instantly began to shake his head in disagreement before he exclaimed, "that's not true, Lala. I could've done anything to comfort my dad. To get the gun away from that guy." Archie, once again, squeezed his brown irises closed before he mumbled, "I was a coward. And now, me and my dad were witnesses - Pop Tate, too. This guy may have my dad's wallet and all of his information." The Andrews teenagers slowly opened his eyes after a tense moment before he glanced at each face around the table and asked with fear shining throughout his voice, "what if he comes back?" 

The table in Riverdale General was only silent for barely half a second before Veronica quietly mumbled after her boyfriend's story, "oh, Archie." The Lodge girl immediately pulled her boyfriend into her chest and rubbed her fingers along Archie's red hair as he cried into her shoulder while she tried to comfort him as best as she could. 

The Lanzetta teenager felt her heart completely break at the sight of her usually smiley and happy best friend become this mess of sadness and tears. Lauren hated that she couldn't do anything to help Archie, either. She wished that she could do more for the Andrews family but she sadly couldn't.

However, the Lanzetta girl hoped that the guys who her father had contacted would be able to find something out on the streets about who could have done this. Lauren knew the members of the Lanzetta mob were very good at their jobs so she knew they would find out something - even if it was something small. Lauren knew between her, Jughead, and Betty that they could figure this out with whatever information that her family could find. 

Lauren didn't like the idea of this guy in the hood walking around the small town of Riverdale. Yeah, she knew there was bad guys always around like the drug dealers and gangs on the Southside and the corrupt politicians and lawyers on the Northside but this guy rubbed Lauren the wrong way. It might be because the guy in the hood went after someone that Lauren thought as family but she swore as she stared at the heartbroken Andrews teenager that she was going everything in her power to find the person who did this to Fred Andrews and make them wish that they had never been born.  


	5. Goodbye

_For the past few years, I've been just letting life past me by._

_I haven't been happy with my life as a twenty-two year old but that all changes in 2020._

_This year, I'm going to be selfish._

_I'm going to focus on me._

_I'm going to focus on finally getting my drivers license._

_I'm going to focus on getting a job._

_I'm going to focus on getting my GED and starting college._

_I'm going to focus on my health and get to the point where I am happy with my body._

_So, as of right now, I'm going to be taking a writing hiatus. I want to thank everyone who has ever even read a sentence of work. It means a lot to have someone who enjoyed my writing._

_I promise to be back one day, but until we say each other again._

_Goodbye_

_xoxo Emily_


End file.
